Posts Tagged ‘emotion’

The neurons that shaped civilization

Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know it.

February 14th, 2011 | Science of the Mind | Read More

Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness

Every so often Al Frances says something that seems to surprise even him. Just now, for instance, in the predawn darkness of his comfortable, rambling home in Carmel, California, he has broken off his exercise routine to declare that “there is no definition of a mental disorder. It’s bullshit. I...

January 31st, 2011 | Science of the Mind | Read More

Was the poisoning of a French town in 1951 an LSD trial?

On August 16th 1951 a number of people in the quiet southern French town of Pont St.Esprit began to fall ill. Stomach pains were soon followed by violent and often terrifying hallucinations. Local hospitals were soon overwhelmed and more than thirty people were taken to asylums in nearby towns. It was...

August 25th, 2010 | Social Insight | Read More

An answer to the ‘Nature vs Nurture’ Debate?

Savage-Rumbaugh’s work with bonobo apes, which can understand spoken language and learn tasks by watching, forces the audience to rethink how much of what a species can do is determined by biology — and how much by cultural exposure.

August 6th, 2010 | Evolution | Read More

Wiping Minds

It is quite common, in these neurocentric days, to find statements from those who eagerly anticipate the final abolition of minds, with no thought to the consequences. One recent example was from archaeologist Peter Watson in the New Scientist, (quoted in Beauregard & O’Leary, 2007); “The...

August 3rd, 2010 | Science of the Mind | Read More

A Brainwaving Computer

Tan Le’s astonishing new computer interface reads its user’s brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). She demos the headset, and talks about its far-reaching applications. Tan Le is the head...

July 28th, 2010 | Science of the Mind | Read More

Psychedelic Technologies

Imagine… you are strolling along the Esplanade at Burning Man, and something catches your eye. Bands of lights are rapidly moving up and down a 30 foot high pyramid, from Red at the bottom, through Orange, Green, Turquoise, Indigo, Violet, and finally White light at the top. Nothing too unusual,...

July 26th, 2010 | Science & Technology | Read More

A Ladies’ Man and Shameless

Das ewig weibliche zieht uns hinan. The eternally feminine leads us forward. – Goethe He who binds himself to a joy does the winged life destroy, But he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in Eternity’s sunrise. – William Blake Only connect. – E. M. Forster I‘m finally...

July 13th, 2010 | Social Insight | Read More

Why can’t we stop Believing?

Michael Shermer says the human tendency to believe strange things — from alien abductions to dowsing rods — boils down to two of the brain’s most basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble. As founder and publisher of Skeptic Magazine,...

July 6th, 2010 | Science of the Mind | Read More

BIG BANG BIG BOOM

BLU’s new wall painted animation is an unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life … and how it could probably end. direction and animation by BLU blublu.org production and distribution by ARTSH.it artsh.it sountrack by ANDREA MARTIGNONI BIG BAG BIG BOOM – the...

July 6th, 2010 | Evolution | Read More